Allen West

Allen West (7 February 1961-) was a member of the US House of Representatives from Florida's 22nd district (R) from 3 January 2011 to 3 January 2013, succeeding Ron Klein and preceding Lois Frankel.

Biography
Allen West was born in Atlanta, Georgia on 7 February 1961, and he joined the US Army in 1983. West was deployed to Kuwait in 1991 during the Gulf War and to Iraq in 2003 during the Iraq War, and he was fined $5,000 and allowed to retire as a Lieutenant-Colonel after engaging in the beating and simulated execution of an Iraqi policeman. His family went on to move to Florida, and he taught at a high school and worked as a defense contractor. In 2008, he unsuccessfully ran for a US House of Representatives seat in Florida, but he won the rematch in 2010. He became the first African-Amreican Republican congressman from Florida since Josiah T. Walls in 1876, and he became a high-profile Tea Party congressman. He lost re-election due to redistricting in 2012.